


Lost

by EmJ93



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: mentions of Aloth/Watcher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 03:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18562963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmJ93/pseuds/EmJ93
Summary: When Vela realises that she has misplaced something, she and Ariela go on a hunt through Neketaka for a very important person.





	Lost

“ _Oh no_! I think I lost Aloth.”

Ariela glanced down towards her daughter, a frown beginning to form on her face as she did so. “Aloth didn’t come with us, honey bee. He’s not lost; he’s still back onboard the ship.”

“No, Mama. I meant  _the bear_.” A deeply concerned expression spread over Vela’s face, and she turned around, beginning to retrace their path through the crowded Neketaka streets, dodging between groups of Aumaua as she scanned the ground frantically, and leaving Ariela with no choice but to follow along so that she would not lose sight of the small orlan girl.

“‘The bear’? You named your bear 'Aloth’?" 

Despite the young girl’s obvious concern over her missing stuffed toy, Ariela couldn’t help but smile a little at the idea of her daughter having named it after her… friend? Her  _lover_? The label of their relationship was a little unclear at the present, but that was hardly important, she supposed. What  _was_  important was that he was very dear to her… and that he had apparently made quite an impression on Vela as well.

"Yes.”

“Is that the one you had earlier? With the blue bow?”

Vela nodded distractedly, still searching the paths for her missing bear as she hurried along, and Ariela fell into step beside her, happy to join in the hunt now that she actually knew what she was looking for. How the girl had managed to lose a bear almost half her size, she wasn’t entirely certain, but at least she could be confident that they would be able to spot it without any problem once they had tracked it back down.

“It’s alright, darling, we’ll find him. I’m sure that he won’t be far. Do you remember where you had him last?” Ariela reached out to gently ruffle her daughter’s hair as the girl shook her head, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Keeping her voice calm and steady, she tilted her head thoughtfully, thinking back on the afternoon. “Hmm… well, I know that you definitely had him when we came out of the dressmaker’s shop. Did you maybe put him down when we stopped to buy sweets?”

“Maybe.” Vela sounded unconvinced, turning to regard her mother with big sad eyes. “I don’t remember, Mama! What if I’ve lost him forever?!”

“Well, sometimes things get lost, honey bee, and it’s sad, but it’ll be okay in the end. But I promise we’ll try our best to find him. Aloths have a tendency to show up where you least expect them, you know. Particularly after spending a long time away from you.”

“They do?” The tears started to come to a stop, and Ariela reached down to scoop up her daughter, pressing a soft kiss against the girl’s cheek as she moved confidently in the direction of the small stall that they had visited half an hour or so earlier.

“They do. So don’t worry too much, okay?”

**

It took the better part of two hours to track down the stuffed toy, which they eventually located on a bench not too far from one of the water sculptures that they had stopped to look at during their travels earlier in the afternoon, someone clearly having picked it up and placed it there to help protect it from getting damaged, and to make it more visible for when they inevitably came looking for it. Ariela had been nearing the point of calling off the search, but the moment that she caught sight of the look of intense relief and joy that passed over Vela’s face when she finally laid eyes on the bear, she was incredibly glad that she had not. The hunt had been worth it, if it made her daughter happy.

“There we are, see. I told you that Aloths are unpredictable. One moment you’re fairly certain you’ll never see them again, and the next, they show up halfway across the world with a fake name. Or, well, on a bench halfway across the city waiting for you to come back, in this case." 

Vela paid no attention to her mother’s remark, rushing across to the bench to scoop her bear up into her arms, and hugging it tightly to her chest. "We found him!! Thank you so much, Mama!”

“That’s okay, darling. I promised you that we would try our best, didn’t I?”

“You did. But I was scared that he was gone forever!” A sheepish look passed over her face as she glanced up at Ariela. “I promise I’ll be more careful with him from now on.”

“That’s good. I don’t know that we’ll have hours to search for him if he goes missing again, so be sure to keep a tight hold from now on, okay?”

“I will. Promise.”

“Good girl.” Dropping down onto the bench, Ariela shot her daughter a sideways glance, curiosity finally getting the better of her. “So, now that we’ve found him, and everything’s alright again… why  _did_  you name your bear 'Aloth’?" 

Vela smiled brightly, still snuggling the bear against herself. "Because he’s my favourite. He always makes me happy when I play with him. And you always seem to smile when Aloth is around, Mama, so that’s what I wanted to call him. It just seemed like the right name.”

Ariela couldn’t help but chuckle, unable to find any flaw in her daughter’s logic, and touched that had noticed such a thing in the first place. “Yes. I suppose it is.”


End file.
